Better Man
by Rainnboots
Summary: Ten drabbles set to ten different song.


**Author's Note:** Hey, y'all! So, this is my first published _Psych_ fic, and I'm, well, psyched. I took the idea from Cable Addict's fic, and these is ten drabbles written to the ten songs my iPod produced when put on shuffle. I cheated, though; some of the songs were just too short to write a whole drabble! And, some of these are considerably longer than a drabble. My word count is 3,633, so you do the math.

**Reviews:** Are always appreciated! Flames, however, simply burn.

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, I do not own_ Psych_. I recieve no fruits for my labor, simply a feeling of light accomplishment for sitting down and finishing a story based on the characters already provided.

**AN #2:** The Italian in the first drabble/oneshot translate, respectively, to this: "Good evening, beautiful. I trust the you got here okay?" -- "Yes, I did, thank you. How are you?" -- "Cin cin" is an informal way of saying "cheers" in Italian. In drabble one, I intentionally did not disclose the name of the girl; I left it for you readers to decide. Drabble seven takes place after the end of _An Evening With Mr. Yang_, so slightly spoiler-ish.

* * *

**Scenes From An Italian Restaurant - Billy Joel**

Shawn rocked lightly on his heels, dusting a stray leaf off the front of his jacket before clasping his hands behind his back, fingering the yellow daisy he's plucked.

_Why so nervous?_ a voice said in his head, eerily similar to that of The Joker's. He let out a breath, checking the watch on his wrist. She had thirty second until she was late. Leaning forward to look down the street, he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He turned around, and smile spread across his face.

"Buona sera, bella," said Shawn, taking her hand and kissing it. He couldn't help his eyes from looking her up and down; dressed in a plum colored dress and off-white cardigan, black peeptoes showing her manicured toenails. "La fido di ha preso qui giusto?"

"Sì, ho fatto, la ringrazia. Come lei è?" she answered.

"Okay, if I had any idea what you just said I would probably say 'yes, my socks are dry, thank you.'" said Shawn. She giggled.

"I found this flower, and it simply begged to be plucked and given to you," said Shawn.

"Well thank you, I love daisies." she smiled.

"I know," said Shawn. "Hope I didn't freak you out; I can't help my psychic tendencies sometimes. Shall we see if our reservations are ready?"

"Shawn, we're at Papa John's."

"Yes, but it's a very busy Papa John's." said Shawn, motioned towards the window. She gazed in, seeing two lone teenagers behind the counter chatting.

"Hmm," she said.

"Let's get inside before the dinner rush starts; I hear this place gets crazy after eight."

She giggled as his hand rested on her back, leading her through the door.

--

"So, we have a bottle of white," said Shawn, placing a clear plastic cup filled with Sprite on the table next to the pizza, followed by a cup of Big Red "And a bottle of red. Sadly, they did not have rosé, but at least we have a table near the street." He said, tapping on the glass window.

Shawn slid into the booth across from her, letting out a breath and looking at her surprised expression.

"Too high-end? Gosh, I'm sorry, I knew I should've started small." said Shawn, shaking his head.

"No, it's perfect, Shawn. Really." she said. "I love it."

"Not too fancy?"

"Certainly not." she said.

"Good." said Shawn, smiling. She shook her head and smiled, reaching for the pizza.

"Here, let me get that for you," he said, pulling a piece of pizza off the plate and placing it on hers, cheese and grease sliding off.

"Thank you, sir."

"My pleasure, miss."

Shawn bit the cheese to free the piece of pizza, wiping grease off his chin.

"Well, cin cin, bella." said Shawn, tipping his pizza towards her.

"Cin cin, Shawn."

--

Shawn sighed, stopping in front of her apartment building.

"What?"

"The dates almost over," said Shawn, crinkling his nose.

"It is, huh?" she said. Shawn nodded sadly.

"Well, you know, we could do it again sometime," she offered, looking up at him innocently.

Shawn smiled, kissing her lightly.

"Anytime you want, bella."

* * *

**Wearing And Tearing - Led Zeppelin**

Shawn bopped his head, humming as he entered Psych.

"_I__t starts out like a murmur then it grows like thunder until it bursts inside of you.._." he sang, flipping through some papers on Gus's desk.

"Gus?" he called. "Buddy? You still here?"

"In here," said Gus from the supply closet. "Shawn, what happened to all the pencils?"

"They're in the top drawer of my desk."

"Why?"

"I sharpened them all and forgot to put them back."

"Oh, thank y-" said Gus, walking to Shawn's desk and pulling open a drawer. He held up a pencil sharpened at both ends, the eraser missing. "Shawn, what happened to all the pencils?"

"I sharpened them."

"Why the hell did you do this to the pencils that _I_ paid for? There's no eraser!"

"No, look, now the pencil is twice as useful; you no longer need to sharpen when the end gets dull. You simply turn it around," said Shawn, turning the pencil upside down and placing it back in Gus's hand. "and bingo! You just saved yourself the five seconds of your life it would take to stick the end into the pencil sharpener, and turn it all around so it gets evenly sharp on all sides. I was doing you a service, Gus."

"What if I want to erase something?"

Shawn held out a green mug filled with eraser tops. He pulled one out, handing it to Gus. "They're still useable; you just need to be careful now to cut yourself on the metal edge."

Gus glared at Shawn, dropping the pencil back into the drawer and slamming it closed. He stalked out of the office.

"You know, most people would say 'thank you' when someone does something nice for them!" Shawn called. Gus slammed the door in response.

"Fine," said Shawn, pulling open the drawer and taking out a pencil, plopping down into his desk chair and grabbing a piece of paper. He began to doodle a pineapple man wearing a cape. "More double-ly awesome pencils for me."

* * *

**How About You - Bobby Darin**

Juliet ran a hand through her hair, sighing at the mound of paper work on her desk. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up.

"You want some help with that, Detective O'Hara?" asked Buzz, looking at the papers.

"No thanks, Buzz."

"I could make you pot of coffee," he offered.

"That's sweet, Buzz." said Juliet, smiling up at him. "But I'm okay. You go home and see your wife; you've been working a lot lately.

"Okay," said Buzz. "Have a good night, Detective O'Hara."

"You too," she said as he walked towards the exit. "Oh, and Buzz?"

Buzz turned around, his eyebrows raised.

"It's Juliet."

"Goodnight, Juliet." he said, smiling.

"Goodnight, Buzz."

Juliet flexed her fingers as she heard the loud CHUNK of the exit door closing. She looked up longingly at hearing Buzz's car start up.

"Just plow through it, Juliet. It'll be done in no time." said Juliet, picking up her pen and beginning to write down more reports.. "Just think about all the things you like, like the neighbor's cat, or apple pie, or the smell of the ocean, or Montana in the middle of December--"

"I personally like New York in June, but I could just be odd."

Juliet jumped, her pencil flying out of her hand as the psychic appeared behind her.

"God, Shawn! You scared me half to death!" she said, letting out a breath.

"My apologies, Detective O'Hara. I'm just glad you didn't have your gun on you." said Shawn. Juliet scoffed, Shawn bending down to pick up her pencil.

"Police reports?" said Shawn.

"Tons," said Juliet. "Carlton's out sick, so I've got to pick up his slack."

"How un-gentlemenly of him, leaving a lady file all his papers." said Shawn. Juliet went back to her writing, Shawn walking to the desk next to Juliet's and settling in the chair. He spun around in the seat, staring at the ceiling.

"Well, this is boring. What do you say we take a ride on my motorcycle and see a drive-in movie? I hear 'On The Town' is playing." said Shawn, wiggling his eyebrows enticingly.

"I've got to get all this done, Shawn." said Juliet. "Chief Vick'll kill me if it's not all filed by Tuesday."

"What's the need for all these reports, anyway? It's not like any reads 'em. I saw if the Chief doesn't file any, we shouldn't have to either. C'mon, Jules, let's protest these unfair working conditions!"

"Shawn," said Juliet. "Please, I need to work."

Shawn sighed, pushing himself out of his seat to wander around the station. "_Fine_. I'll let you work."

"Thank you." said Juliet, going back to her writing. After a moment, she let the pencil go limp in her hand. Shawn cocked and eyebrow in her direction.

"I do love a good Sinatra movie," said Juliet.

"I knew you'd come around, Jules! The spirits told me you can't resist a good musical, so I already got you your jacket. If I may," said Shawn, pulling out her out of her chair and holding out her coat, ready to slip it over her shoulders.

"Thanks," she said, shaking her hair out of the jacket.

"Come come, Jules, the chopper awaits." he said, holding out his arm for Juliet to take. He smiled as she looped her arm through his, placing her warm hand on his forearm.

"If we hurry, we might just get to see the dancing snacks. That reminds me, do you like Necco Wafers? The movie theatre's got tons, they practically give them away. They claim it's their worst seller. Can you believe that? Necco Wafers!"

* * *

**Can't Buy Me Love (live) - Michael Buble**

"Yeah, okay. I'll talk to you later, Beth." said Gus. Pushing the OFF button on his phone, he sighed.

"What's up, buddy?" asked Shawn, looking up the video game he was playing on his iPhone.

"Beth wants tickets to the ballet tonight." said Gus.

Shawn made a face. "Ew."

"You know what even worse? The price for the tickets. The cheapest are eighty-nine dollars!"

Shawn let out a long, low whistle, tilting his iPhone to the side.

"Exactly. And she's been hinting all week that she's dying to try that new Thai restaurant that's opened up. Do you know how much that new Thai restaurant costs, Shawn? It costs a lot!"

"Gus, ol' buddy ol' pal, I'm gonna tell you a little proverb I learned from two guys name John and Paul," said Shawn, getting up from his desk and walking to Gus's.

"The apostles?"

"No, the Beatles."

Shawn rested his hand on Gus's shoulder, looking down at his friend.

"Money can't buy you love, Gussy."

* * *

**Easy Living - Bobby Darin**

"Living for you, is easy living. It's easy to live when you're in love, and I'm so in love. There's nothing in life but you," sang Shawn, swinging the girl in his arms around to the music. "I never regret the years that I'm giving, they're easy to give when you're in love. I'm happy to do whatever I do for you."

He cradled her head on his shoulder, her silky hair sliding beneath her fingers as her hand grabbed hold of his shirt.

"For you maybe I'm a fool but it's fun. People say you rule me with one wave of your hand, baby it's grand, they just don't understand," he took old of her hand, dancing around to the music in his head, humming out the tune as he twirled around the room.

"Living for you, is easy living. It's easy to live when you're in love, and I'm so in love. There's nothing in life..." he held the baby out at arm's lengths, her pink nose crinkling happy as she giggled up at him. He kissed the forehead of his daughter, grinning as he felt her small handing on his cheek. "_but you_."

* * *

**Burnin' Up - Jonas Brothers**

Juliet searched through her bag, pulling out its contents and dropping them on her desk.

"Looking for something, O'Hara?" asked Lassiter, looking up from his computer.

"Yeah, I can't find my cell phone... have you seen it?" she asked.

"No," said Carlton.

"Good afternoon, Jules!" said Shawn, followed by Gus, who waved "hi" to Lassiter. "Isn't it a little early for spring cleaning, Jules?"

"Spring started two weeks ago, Shawn." said Gus.

"Oh,"

"Hey guys, I'm looking for my phone. You haven't seen it, have you?"

The boys shook their heads, Gus beginning to pull out his phone.

"I can call-"

"I'll call it!" Shawn said, phone already to his ear. After a moment, a nasal-y voice emerged from Juliet's desk.

"_I'm slippin' into the lava, and I'm trying to keep from going under. Baby, you turn the temperature hotter, 'cause I'm burnin' up, burnin' up, for you baby..._"

"What in the name of sweet _justice_ is that?" Lassiter called from his desk. "O'Hara, is that your phone? If it is, as head detective and your partner I'm ordering you to change it because will **not** be listening to _that_ crap everything _he_ calls." Lassiter gestured toward Shawn.

Juliet threw open her desk drawers, papers scattering in a frantic search to find the tiny device. The chorus looped two times over before she finally shut it off.

"Juliet, why ever did you change your ring tone?" asked Shawn, phone still to his ear, a smile on his lips. "And by the way, rejecting my call? So not cool."

"I _didn't_ change it," said Juliet, her voice a few shades rosier than before. "Shawn, did you do this?"

"How do you suppose I could've gotten your phone from your purse, downloaded a ring tone, changed the ringer, and then cleverly hidden it beneath the tons of unorganized papers stuck in your drawers, all without you noticing?"

Juliet glared up at Shawn, lost for words.

"That wasn't funny, Shawn." said Juliet.

"Well, actually, it was," said Shawn. "Right Gus?"

"I am not involving myself in this," said Gus, crossing his arms and turning away from Shawn. "I can show you how to change it later, Juliet."

"Thanks, Gus." said Juliet. Gus nodded, back still to Shawn.

"Aw, come on, nobody thought it was funny?" said Shawn, looking around the station.

"I laughed," said Buzz, looking up from the coffee machine.

"Thank you!" said Shawn, raising his hand to Buzz.

"Sorry, Detective O'Hara," said Buzz. Juliet waved her hand at him in a "whatever" sort of gesture.

"Mr. Spencer, just the man I wanted to see," said Chief Vick, leaning out of her office. "In my office, please, gentlemen."

"'Scuse me," said Gus, pushing past Shawn. "Hello, Chief. Do you have a new case for us?"

--

Shawn peered around a corner, seeing Juliet sitting at her desk, typing away on her computer. Shawn pulled out his phone and pushed number three on his speed dial, holding it up to his ear.

"_I__'m slippin' into the lava, and I'm tryin' to keep from goin' under..._"

He heard the familiar frantic "Oh!" as Juliet pushed the contents of her bag around, wrestling her phone out of a sea of junk.

Yep; two weeks later, it was still as sweet as the first day.

"What, Shawn?" asked Juliet, a breathless tone to her voice.

"Just calling to say hello; I brought lunch." said Shawn, coming around the corner and holding up a bag of Chinese and walking to Juliet.

He didn't miss the smile she tried to hide, and didn't try to hide his.

* * *

**Tiny Vessels - Death Cab For Cutie**

"I'll see you later, Miss Abby," said Shawn, the light of the Abigail's apartment shining overhead.

"Miss Abby? You sound like one of the kids in my class," said Abigail, crinkling her nose. They both laughed.

"You want to come inside?" she asked.

"I should really get home and check on my mom, and I'm sure Lassie's got tons of paper work for me to fill out, and Gus is my ride home." said Shawn.

"Oh, right, okay." said Abigail.

"Next time, okay?" said Shawn, searching for her eyes "Next time."

"Yeah, next time." said Abigail, a lightly hopeful tone in her voice.

Reaching a hand up to her face, he kissed her.

"I'll see you later, Abigail." said Shawn, smiling at he petite brunette

"See you later, Shawn." said Abigail, chewing on the inside of her cheek. He walked down the front stoop, walking around to the passenger side of the car and stopping to wave at Abigail, watching as she waved back and smiled school-girlishly at him before closing the door. He climbed into the passenger seat and Gus started up the car.

"Something wrong?" asked Gus, looking over as he pulled away from the curb.

Shawn felt his stomach churning, his throat dry even as he swallowed. He hated lying like that.

"I'm great, actually." said Shawn. "I like her."

"Me too." said Gus.

After a moment, Gus looked back over at Shawn.

"You sure? You look anxious."

"I'm fine, Mother, jeez." said Shawn, a chuckle sounding from his throat.

"Whatever you say, Shawn."

Shawn chewed on his thumb thoughtfully, his heart aching. There wouldn't be a 'next time'. Not for Abby.

Damn Juliet and her confessions.

Damn himself for loving her so much.

* * *

**Off The Hook - The Rolling Stones**

"Hey, Jules, it's your lover," said Shawn, flicking a piece of lint off his desk and ignoring Gus's snort and mumble of "You wish."

"I've been getting your voicemail for three and a half days now, and I'm starting to take it personally. Call me back, okay? I miss hearing LMNT harmonizing your name from my thigh when my phone rings. Call me!"

Shawn set his phone on the desk, linking his fingers together across his stomach.

"I think she's avoiding me." said Shawn.

"Think?" said Gus.

"Now that's just rude, Gus." said Shawn. "Why would she be avoiding me?"

"Maybe because the department's up to their eyes with cases right now? Halloween's coming up, and you know they're always busy with stupid teenagers."

"Yeah, but _three whole days_, does she never take a break?"

"You know, most people don't have a job where they can fool around all day playing _Tap Tap Revenge 2_ on their iPhone all day."

"I was trying to win us concert tickets, Gus! They were running a contest, and if you scored 100,000 points or higher in the course of 72 hours, you're automatically entered!"

Gus shook his head. "Whatever, man. I'm getting lunch."

Shawn followed Gus out of the office.

"Maybe she's on desk duty because she beat somebody up." said Shawn, climbing into Gus's mobile blueberry. "C'mon, let's head down to the station, see what's going down."

"I highly doubt Juliet beat somebody up, Shawn."

"Or maybe she forgot to pay her cell phone bill, and now it's disconnected. Yes, see, that's a completely plausible explanation! Her phone's just off the hook! Gus, what are you doing? You take a left to get to the station...?"

"We're getting lunch."

"But what about Jules? We need to help her pay her bills!"

"Juliet can pay her own cell phone bill. I'm hungry, Shawn, I want lunch."

Shawn sighed.

"Meanie McJones, won't even help a friend in need."

* * *

**Only Hope - Switchfoot**

Karen pored through the papers scattered across her desk, rubbing her forehead.

"Chief?" said Shawn, Gus following him into the Chief's office. "You called us?"

"Yes, I've got a case for you two." said Karen. She handed them a case file. "We've had three homocides in the past week, it looks like a sniper."

"In Santa Barbara?" said Gus, his eyebrows raised in surprise. Karen nodded, biting on her lip.

"Do you have any leads?" Gus asked.

"We've got a fingerprint that we think might be the guy's, but we ran it three times and it's not in the system." said Karen. "We can't find anything linking the victims together, they all seem to be random killings."

"What do you think?" asked Shawn, flipping through the papers in the file. Karen shrugged.

"I don't know, I want to say there's a pattern, but... there's nothing there." she said, clearly frustrated as she gestured towards the file in Shawn's hand. "We need you to do... whatever it is you do, Mr. Spencer, and catch this guy. I'm not finding anymore dead bodies."

"You can count on us, Chief." said Shawn, clapping a hand on Gus's shoulder and smiling reassuringly at Karen.

"Good. And please, Mr. Spencer, keep the shenanigans to a minimal." said Karen. "You two are our only hope."

* * *

**Better Man - James Morrison**

He rubbed his eyes, fatigue wrapped around him in a tight embrace. He pushed the door open as the morning sun began to peer over the water. He tucked the spare key back into its hiding place beneath the loose plank on the front porch. Quietly, he shut the door and locked it behind him, ambling over to the couch and slumping down. He covered his face in his hands and inhaled deeply, exhaling the large breath through his nose as his throat tickled. The couch sunk in to his right, an arm brushing up next to his.

"Tough day at work?"

"Two people died," Shawn began. "and I could've stopped it. I should've seen his pattern, it all pointed to his family, God, I should've saved them..."

"Well, you can't save everyone, kid."

"Then what's the point of even trying?"

A soft chuckle floated into his ears as a soft blanket was placed over his shoulders.

"Because it makes the ones you _do_ save that much sweeter." said Henry.

"Really? 'Cause this one just hurts."

"You know what, kid? You can bitch and moan all you want about the people that died. I'm not saying you shouldn't feel bad, because I know what it's like to feel like you failed somebody," said Henry. "But you need to realize that when it comes down to it, the number of people that you've saved is a hell of a lot bigger of a number than the ones that you've lost."

Shawn felt his father's hand resting on the back of his neck, his thumb reaching up into the back of his hair.

"You get some sleep," said Henry.

"I don't think I can, Dad."

"Trust me on this, Shawn, sleeping is best right now."

Eyes still close, Shawn felt Henry gently nudge him down to the couch, taking the blanket from his shoulders and laying it over his body. Henry pulled off Shawn's shoes, adjusting the pillow behind his head. Warm fingers ran themselves through Shawn's hair.

"Sleep tight. Love ya, kid."

His eyelids growing heavy and the couch feeling a considerably large amount more comfortable then it had two minutes ago, Shawn wondered just how lost he would be without his father showing the way. Yawning, he mumbled as he drifted off to sleep,

"Love ya too, Dad."

* * *

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